I Was Made For You
by morecolorfulmoniker
Summary: Emma and Killian's daughter Ella (short for Eleanor) is acting more mischievous than usual, and though they play it off as the imaginative acts of a typical 4 year old, she just may be up to something they never could have anticipated.
1. Chapter 1

A light giggle and a soft, unintelligible murmur. Killian smiled, already knowing who the sound belonged to as he approached the door at the end of the hallway, pushing it open gently so as not to disturb its occupant in doing whatever seemed to be providing such entertainment. The back of a head full of long blonde hair faced him as he peered in to find his daughter in the floor, staring intently into a full-length mirror. She wore the widest of grins as she reached out to touch the glass.

"Admiring yourself, Princess Ella?" he finally broke the silence as she spun around and he was met with an all-too-familiar pair of blue eyes…accompanied by an even more familiar mischievous gleam sparkling within them.

"No, Daddy," she scoffed with a wave of her hand in his direction, though she cast a hurried look of concern between the mirror and Killian, as if expecting something to happen.

"Well, I think you're quite beautiful, either way," he mused, unsure what figment of her imagination had found its way into the seemingly empty glass before him. To have grown up in the so-named "Land Without Magic," his daughter was the most imaginative person in all of Storybrooke. He attributed it to the many volunteer babysitters she'd found herself spending time with in only 4 short years of life. From Granny's stories of wolves and crossbows to Leroy's mostly over-exaggerated gossip about the whole town to the Charmings' constant retelling of their very own love story and even, he was willing to admit, a couple of his own swashbuckling stories, she was truly a child of fairy tales. And she wanted it all. She was a pirate and a princess in one, tougher than Emma and Killian combined with an elegance and grace that bewildered them both.

"I know," she grinned in response to his compliment, and in that moment he saw more of himself in her than he ever had. She was Emma made over, from the golden locks to the chin they'd both inherited from Snow White. But to Killian's great surprise the first time he'd held her in his arms and she'd looked up at him, she had his eyes, a notion that thrilled and terrified him. To see a piece of himself in her…his child…it was everything he never knew he'd always wanted. But with those bright blues came her father's knack for charm and tendency towards mischief, which led him to those fleeting moments as she grew older when he thought she might have a bit more pirate in her than he ever would have dared hope for.

"I'll leave you to your thoughts, then, Princess," he said with a bow of his head in her direction as he pulled the door shut and started down the hallway.

"It's Captain Princess, Daddy, my more colorful moniker!" her muffled voice yelled in response, to which he responded with an "Aye, Captain Princess, my mistake!" and immediately found himself baffled at her use of his very own words against him, despite him never telling her the details of his first days with her mother. Emma must have told her the tale, or Snow White, for that matter, he reminded himself as he shook his head and walked down the hallway, chuckling to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here it is! Signed, sealed, and delivered! Chapter two! I hope you all enjoy, and I promise that the mystery of Ella's mischief will be revealed in good time, though I'm sure some of you have a theory or two.**

"So Henry is with Grace and should be back later, and we won't be out too late," Emma said as Snow gently led her in the direction of the door where Killian stood waiting.

"Take your time. The two of you don't get time to yourselves often. Treasure it," Snow reassured her daughter with a smile that she mirrored before Emma trotted over to the stairs to press a kiss to her own daughter's forehead.

"Be a good girl," Emma said as Ella nodded in response before adding a wink in Killian's direction when her mother had turned back towards the door. Killian answered her with a wink of his own and a single finger pressed to his lips before he stepped to the side to let Emma through the door and out into the hallway.

"Play nice with your uncle," Killian added as Ella cast a glance over at Neal, whose head was buried in Henry's storybook. He seized every opportunity to read through it, though he already knew each story by heart.

"I will," Ella affirmed as Killian nodded one final silent thank you to David and Snow before he stepped out and into the hallway and pulled the door shut.

"Well, Miss Ella," David asked as his granddaughter turned her gaze on him. "What shall we do tonight? Sword fighting? Fort building?"

"Archery? Dancing?" Snow added, though Ella's attention seemed to be trained in the direction of the stairs. She shook her head to answer them before she ran to the couch, grabbing Neal's hand and yanking him to his feet, the pages of the storybook flapping against the cover as it dangled in one of his hands.

"Where are we going?" he asked as Ella continued to pull him across the room and up the stairs, surprisingly strong considering Neal was older. When she didn't respond, he gave up his struggle and caught up to her, running next to her on his own.

"And why aren't we invited?" David called after them as they approached the top.

"No grown ups allowed!" Ella yelled back, voice already muffled as the pair disappeared into her bedroom, the door slamming shut before either of them could get another word out. Snow joined David on the couch as he reached for the remote to turn the TV on and huffed a sigh, crossing his arms over his chest.

"We're Snow White and Prince Charming. How much cooler could we get?" he grumbled.

"We're grandparents. I don't think we could be any less cool," Snow countered, pressing a kiss to her husband's cheek as she snuggled into his chest and watched him channel surf.

* * *

><p>The closing of a door forced Snow from her slumber as she bolted upright, eyes scanning the now darkened room and quickly finding Henry standing over her and a snoring David.<p>

"Napping on the job?" he teased as he started towards the kitchen, opened the fridge, and pulled a piece of cold pizza out that he immediately shoved into his mouth while searching for something to drink.

Panicked, Snow jumped up from the couch and dashed upstairs to Ella's room. She quickly threw the door open, and upon finding Ella and Neal still inside, let out the breath she'd been holding in. After a moment of surveying the situation before her with the fear now dissipating, she couldn't help but wonder what the two kids were up to. They sat cross-legged in the floor directly in front of a full-length mirror, and they'd only just turned away from it to look at her when she'd opened the door, as if they'd been staring into it. But when she looked, she saw only their reflections. Neal, a spitting image of his father despite his mother's dark hair, stared back at her in surprise. And Eleanor, a living example of what Emma must have looked like during the childhood that they never got to see or experience, surveyed her carefully with Killian's deep blue ocean eyes. And finally, she saw herself, hair disheveled from sleep, watching through frantic green eyes that were calming with every moment that passed.

"What are you two doing up here?" she asked, gaze shifting from the reflections to the very real children sitting before her. Neal looked from Ella to the mirror and finally to Snow, his inability to keep a secret, inherited from his mother, beginning to show through.

Before he could answer, however, the door downstairs opened and closed, and Ella was up and running, pulling Neal behind her past Snow and out of the bedroom. They were already downstairs by the time Snow realized what was going on, her reaction time still slowed by the effects of sleep. She joined them after a moment, flattening her hair back down to her head as she went.

Ella was wrapped around Emma's leg while Killian was standing by the couch, leaning over so that he was inches away from David, who remained fast asleep.

"Dave," Killian whispered, his smirk growing wider by the second. "Dave," he repeated, louder. When David still didn't wake, he took a deep breath in. "DAVE!" he bellowed as David's eyes flew open. Killian leaned back just in time to avoid David's fist connecting with his face and instead stood next to the couch doubled over in laughter.

"Guess I'm taking all the night shifts at the station in the future," Emma teased as Killian's laughter grew even louder, garnering him a smack on the head by his father-in-law, who stood from his spot on the couch and walked over to join Snow near the door. "Any trouble?" Emma asked as Ella skipped across the room to her father, who had finally recovered from his fit of laughter.

"We didn't hear a peep out of her the entire night," Snow answered, resolving that Ella and Neal's actions must have been prompted by their very active imaginations. Children raised in a town where everyone they met was part of one large fairy tale certainly encouraged creativity. "We should be heading home. Say goodbye, Neal."

He nodded, casting a suspicious glance at Ella as she approached to hug him. Once he'd been around the room and had given hugs to Killian and Henry, only Emma remained. But rather than his customary hug for his big sister, he took her left hand in his and examined it carefully, turning it over and back, before his eyes grew wide and he quickly released it and wrapped his arms around her. Emma looked to Snow, eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but all that she could do was shrug in her own display of total bewilderment, wondering just what exactly her granddaughter, who was quite possibly more mischievous than her father if that was possible, was up to. Unable to find an immediate answer, she followed Neal's pattern of hugging each person in the room before following David and her son out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**I know, I know, chapter 3 is ridiculously short. But we're approaching a really important chapter, so don't fret, loyal readers! Also thanks for all the favs and follows! I'd love to hear what you all think!**

"Wonder what that whole hand thing was about?" Emma asked as Killian closed the door to Ella's bedroom, their daughter already fast asleep.

"I haven't the slightest, love," Killian answered, watching Emma take hold of her left hand in her right and examining it in the same way Neal had.

"Nothing but my engagement and wedding rings," she said as she watched the diamonds sparkle with the change of light while turning her hand over and back again. "And a scar from a certain adventure up a certain beanstalk," she added as a sheepish grin crept its way across her face in remembrance.

"The little prince doesn't know that tale, but I recall it perfectly," Killian teased, approaching and taking her hand in his before he pressed his lips against the small scar. "A grand way to begin our story, eh? Leaving me chained atop a beanstalk with a giant?" Emma grimaced, though her guilty smile remained.

"In my defense, if I hadn't, things wouldn't have turned out the way they did. And I don't know about you, but I wouldn't change a second of it," she said as Killian leaned in closer, his blue eyes practically glowing in the darkness of their bedroom.

"Not one moment," he agreed, pressing a soft kiss to her lips before they climbed into bed, Emma snuggling against Killian's chest in the space where she fit perfectly.

"Maybe we should write it all down sometime. It doesn't need drawings or anything like _THE _book, but I think it's worth documenting. We may not be able to relive it, like my parents' first meeting, but between the two of us, I think we could get most of the details," Emma said as they lay together in the darkness, Killian combing his fingers gently through her hair.

"Aye. It is quite the tale. Perhaps you're right, love," he answered softly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

They fell into a comfortable silence then as they both drifted off to sleep, completely unaware of the padding of little feet away from their door and into another bedroom just down the hall…or the little princess those feet belonged to practically bursting with excitement as she buried herself back under the covers.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! Thanks to all who have read and followed and reviewed, it means the world to me, really. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I promise that I'll be updating soon, for all your sakes, hehehe. **

The clanging of metal against metal filled the air like thunder amidst the soft rustling of armor shifting with each carefully executed maneuver. A slash here and a jab there. Finally, victory came in the form of a spin move followed by one final thrust to the chest. The victor smiled and reached up to remove his helmet…to accept the treasures that he had won…and-

"Henry!" a voice called as Henry's eyes shot open in panic and he jumped to his feet, brandishing an imaginary sword from his dream. He quickly scanned his room and realized that the voice had come from downstairs and that he was not, in fact, preparing for battle.

"What?" he yelled back, annoyed that he'd been forced from his dream before he found out the winner of the duel. He walked out of his room and looked down at his mother from the upstairs balcony as she was fastening her sheriff's badge to her belt.

"Killian and I are both working at the station today, so I was hoping you could watch your sister." At that exact second, the bedroom door next to Henry's creaked open and a mess of tangled blonde curls appeared, no face to be found within it. A pair of tiny hands tugged at each strand until Ella finally emerged, her blue eyes bright and the widest of grins stretching across her face. Henry couldn't help but smile at his baby sister's excitement before turning his gaze back downstairs.

"Not a problem." Emma responded with a smile and a "Thanks, kid" as his parents disappeared out the door, early enough to make their coffee run to Granny's before work.

"Looks like it's just the two of us, Ella," he said, turning back to his sister, whose smile had widened in the last few seconds, if that was even possible. "How about some breakfast?" he asked. She quickly bobbed her head up and down before he lifted her into the air, eliciting a high-pitched giggle that rang out in the open space of the apartment, and carried her down the stairs.

* * *

><p>After an expertly cooked breakfast of pancakes in the shape of a hook, per Ella's request, and a quick bath to tame his sister's unruly locks, Henry was sitting on the couch flipping through the channels and had just spotted a Disney marathon he thought would be perfect to provide the day's entertainment when Ella grabbed his hand and began tugging with all her might.<p>

"Look, Ella, _Tangled_ is on! You love Rapunzel!" he said, distracting the little princess for approximately five seconds as she glanced at the screen to watch Rapunzel smack Flynn Rider in the face with a frying pan only to immediately focus her attention back on attempting to pull Henry off of the couch.

"Come…on!" she urged, her socks sliding along the wood floor, though she never lost her balance.

"Where do you want me to go?" he finally asked.

"Upstairs!" she responded, re-tightening her grip and pulling once more. Confused but curious, he obliged by standing and following her while she sprinted as fast as her little legs could carry her up the stairs and into her bedroom.

When he finally caught up with her, she was sitting in the floor in front of a full-length mirror, bouncing up and down with sheer excitement. She patted the space next to her, and he took a seat, with absolutely no idea what she seemed to be so thrilled about. After a few seconds of silence, Ella glanced up at him before turning to completely face the mirror, a gesture that he repeated. She waved her hand in front of it, and Henry's jaw dropped.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the delay in updating...I've been in the process of moving. But here it is! The big reveal! I hope you all like where this is going, because I'm very excited about it!**

He was no longer seeing his own reflection staring back at him. The mirror before him was now filled with an image…a moving image…of thick green foliage that blotted out the sun, if there even was a sun in this other world he was seeing into. He looked from the mirror to his sister, whose smile was one of both pride and absolute amusement as she met his gaze before turning quickly back to the glass.

He knew that Ella had magic. She was the product of True Love, after all, and the kind of True Love that his mom and Killian shared was unlike any other he'd seen in his book or encountered in Storybrooke. But he had no idea that his sister already had the kind of power it took to do this. He glanced back at the mirror, still awestruck, and noticed a group of 4 people walking through the forest inside. They were still too far away to recognize, but he expected he'd find out their identities soon enough.

"Look!" Ella exclaimed as she waved her hand once more and the scene changed.

"Mom," Henry whispered breathlessly, barely realizing he'd said the word aloud as his mother's face appeared. She wasn't in the sheriff's station or Granny's or anywhere in Storybrooke for that matter. In fact, he had no idea where she was or what she was doing. Just as he turned to Ella for explanation, a voice came from the mirror.

_"Hey! Hey! Look!"_

Aurora, Snow White, and Mulan appeared then, the other three members of the group of four he'd initially seen. They were scrambling to free something trapped beneath a pile of what appeared to be human bodies…on the ground.

_"Please help me!"_ A familiar voice rang out as they cleared the last obstruction trapping him. Killian's voice. He was dressed differently, his usual leather replaced by torn fabric already patched in several places, but it was Killian. The way they looked at each other, Emma and Killian…it was as if they'd never seen one another before. It was then that a realization suddenly dawned on him.

"This is when they met," he reasoned as Ella giggled and clapped her hands together.

Ella. Not only did she have the power to use the mirror as a looking glass into other worlds, she could look into the past. He'd only ever seen Regina or Emma look at what was happening in present time, which must have meant that she possessed a power they didn't.

"Have you done this a lot?" he asked his sister, who nodded shyly, as if waiting for his reaction before deciding whether or not to show any further excitement. "Ella, this is awesome," he added to reassure her, reaching over to pull her tightly against his chest as she smiled once more.

"It's a secret," she said softly, placing her finger to her lips. He made a gesture as if zipping his lips tight. "Mommy and Daddy's fairy tale," she explained as she stood and trotted across the room to retrieve the storybook he'd given to her the day she was born. He'd known every story by heart long before she came into the world, and he thought it was time he passed it down. She handed it to him before waving her hand and conjuring one identical to it, right down to the golden script on the front page. As he flipped through the new one, he found each page to be blank, ready for its own story. Ready for the story of a lost princess and a pirate. A savior and a captain.

"Ella, you're amazing!" he exclaimed, standing and lifting her into the air and spinning her around in circles as he pressed kisses to her cheeks.

"Help me, Henry?" she asked when they were sitting back down on the floor again.

"I would love to," he answered as she smiled brightly, conjured a pen, and he opened the cover to page one.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the delay in updates, guys! Things have gotten crazy busy at work, and I just haven't had the time to sit down and take a minute to myself to gather my thoughts and write. I want to be totally honest with you guys. I really love writing this story. I don't usually go for multichapter fics because I'm just better at one-shots and ficlets, but this idea hit me suddenly and I couldn't resist putting it into words. And I've been struggling with whether or not I should continue this because I wasn't sure if it was actually coming across to you all the same way that it comes across to me when I write it or read it back to myself. But I write first and foremost for myself, and so for as long as I feel inspired to write it, I'm going to share it with all of you. Any feedback you could give is, as always, greatly appreciated. Thank you sooo much for sticking with me and this story. It means the world to me.**

_The clanging of metal against metal filled the air like thunder. A slash here and a jab there. Finally, victory came in the form of a clever trick to trip-up the opponent. The victor smiled and leaned down, locking his sword with his rival's, and—_

_ "Normally, I prefer to do other, more enjoyable activities with a woman on her back…"_

Henry's head snapped up as he dropped the pen he was holding and leaned over to clamp his hands over his sister's ears, all the while maintaining his curious and now shocked gaze on the mirror. Ella giggled and tugged at his hands without much success.

"Get him, Mommy!" she squealed, obviously having seen this moment before. Henry sighed and retrieved his pen, unsure of what effect his stepfather's words would be able to have on a four year old anyway.

_"Bit of advice…when I jab you with my sword, you'll feel it." _Henry rolled his eyes, unable to help the smirk that drew across his lips as he began writing once more. _"You might want to quit."_

_ "Why would I do that when I'm winning?" Emma asked, grasping the compass beneath her and kicking Hook backwards, allowing herself to stand. Their swords clashed again, though this time Emma had the upper hand. "Thanks," she yelled, slamming her fist and the compass into Killian's face with all her might and watching as he fell to the ground unconscious. "Now let's go home!"_

The image then began to shift, colors blurring together, just as a door downstairs opened and closed. With a quick flourish of her hand, Ella made the image in the mirror vanish, returning their reflections as if they'd never been gone. Henry placed the pen on the page he'd just finished, closed the book, and looked up at his sister, who vanished it…well, somewhere.

He glanced down at his watch then. 6:00. Where had the day gone? He had lost himself in this new fairy tale. From the very beginning, watching his mother hold a dagger to Killian's throat, to the journey up the beanstalk, each leaving the other behind only to find one another before they placed an entire world between them, Henry could see the path of true love laid out before them. The undeniable connection. The way that they knew each other the entire time. It was all there. And they had no idea.

"Hey, anybody home?" his mother yelled from downstairs. "I've got Granny's!"

Henry turned to Ella, both of their stomachs rumbling at that exact moment as they both realized that they hadn't eaten since breakfast, hours before. As they stood up and started towards the door, Henry stepped in the way and leaned down over his sister.

"Thanks for sharing your secret with me, Ella." His sister smiled and scratched absently at the back of her ear – a perfect mirror of Killian – and wrapped her arms around Henry's neck in a tight hug. He effortlessly lifted her into the air as he stood back up and walked out into the hallway. On his way down the stairs, he glanced into the open kitchen at his mother, laughing as she unpacked the food from Granny's to-go bag, and Killian, the reason behind her laughter with a bright smile of his own, wrapping his arms around her waist while she playfully squirmed from his grip. _Everything we need is right in front of us_.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the delay, loyal readers! Work has been so crazy lately. I hope you enjoy this latest chapter! It covers one of my favorite CS moments on the show to date, and it sort of went in a direction I wasn't expecting, but I'm liking how it turned out. Let me know what YOU think! And I'll try and update very soon! I'm working on polishing the next chapter as I type this. Enjoy!**

_"Hey, beautiful," he grimaced, the darkness of the night enveloping him almost entirely apart from the crimson blood staining his cheeks with color._

_ "Your ribs are broken," was her answer as she pressed a cautious, surveying hand against his chest that he grasped tightly, his knuckles white._

_ "That must be why it hurts when I laugh," he retorted before the smirk he was fighting to maintain transformed into a sneer that made his expression as dark as the night around them._

"So? What do you think?"

His question was met with an approving nod and a bright orange Cheetos-stained grin. Henry had picked Ella up in the middle of snack time at daycare and despite her excitement at getting back to work on their special project, she couldn't resist the temptation of the cheese-flavored snacks. It certainly made for an interesting sight, watching his little sister transform the mirror into a memory with one hand while holding a handful of Cheetos in the other.

"Should we keep going?" he asked as she reached into the bag for another handful, pulling back an almost entirely orange arm.

"Yrs!" she mumbled through a mouthful, spraying small pieces onto the pages of the book that he quickly wiped away, though the orange marks remained. It gave the story character, he supposed.

Ella waved her free hand once more, changing the scene from darkness to bright, intrusive light that forced them both to shield their eyes for a moment. Henry surveyed the scene before him, taking it all in, and started scribbling words onto the page.

_He lay in a hospital bed, the injuries to his face more pronounced beneath the harsh fluorescent lights. His eyes were closed, the steady beep of a heart monitor the only sound in the room apart from his ragged breathing and the attempt at steady breaths she drew in as she sat on the bed beside him._

_ Suddenly, he began to stir, opening his eyes and taking in his surroundings. It didn't take long for him to notice the handcuffs keeping him locked to the bed._

_ "Where's Cora?"_

_ "Again? You're really into this, aren't you?" he asked, gaze still on the handcuffs as he pulled against the restraint, grimacing at the movement. "Damn, that hurts," he growled through gritted teeth._

Henry couldn't help but wince himself at the sight of Killian in such a state. When he glanced over at Ella, he saw a similar pained expression on her face as well, the concern obvious in her blue eyes.

"He's okay. Remember, it's just a memory," he tried to reassure her, and though she nodded, he could see that it still bothered her. He even had to admit that it still bothered him.

Sometimes, he forgot…how young his sister was. She was mature beyond her years, but she was still just a little girl. And the sight of her father, the man she saw as a source of strength and love, laying in a hospital bed and visibly in pain must have been terrifying for her. Suddenly, Emma's voice interrupted his thoughts as they both turned back to the mirror, desperate to find out what happened next.

_"Told ya. Cracked a few ribs. Where's Cora?" she asked, her expression dark._

_ "You look good, I must say. All 'Where's Cora?' in a commanding voice. Chills," he answered in a feigned attempt at being smug._

_ "You have all sorts of sore places I can make you hurt," Emma retorted before reaching down to press against his injured ribs and eliciting a painful groan followed by another grimace._

_ "I have no idea where Cora is, she has her own agenda. Let's talk about something I am interested in: my hook. May I have it back? Or is there another attachment you'd prefer?" he asked, classic smirk still fighting its way through._

"What's Daddy mean, Henry?" Ella asked, watching her father with both worry and curiosity. Henry flattenedd his palm to his forehead in amused exasperation.

"Grown up stuff, Ella. I'll tell you when you're older," he answered with a chuckle, making a mental reminder to ask Killian to explain when they finally revealed their surprise to their parents. "Let's see what Mom says, okay?" he asked, drawing her attention back to the scene in the mirror.

_"You're awfully chipper for a guy who just failed to kill his enemy…then got hit by a car," Emma remarked._

_ "Well, my ribs may be broken, but everything else is still intact," Killian added _(evoking an eye-roll from Henry and a confused look from Ella)_. "Which is more than can be said for other bad days I've had. Plus, I did some quality damage to my foe."_

_ "You hurt Belle," Emma replied, eyebrows furrowed in confusion._

_ "I hurt his heart. Belle's just where he keeps it," Killian answered without hesitation._

"Seems awfully familiar to me," Henry mumbled to himself as he continued writing.

_"He killed my love. I know the feeling."_

"Milah," Ella whispered softly, once again showing her maturity in her ability to understand that each of her parents had loved another person before they had come to love each other. They sat her down one night and explained it to her when she'd spotted Killian in the book with someone who obviously wasn't Emma. No one expected her to understand, and so she'd shocked them all when she nodded and compared the situation to "Uncle Robin and Aunt Regina." But even after that, she pointedly avoided the story of Killian losing his hand…and for awhile, kicked Rumplestiltskin whenever she saw him, much to Killian's terribly-hidden amusement. Finally, at Emma's strong suggestion and the potential threat of sleeping on the couch for the foreseeable future and beyond, Killian had spoken with Ella one-on-one, convincing her that everything that had happened was meant to be, including the loss of his hand and of Milah, in order for him to be with Emma and to have the family he always wanted. It was all worth it, he'd told her.

_Emma sighed, leaning forward. "Keep smiling, buddy. You're chained down, he's on his feet, immortal, has magic, and you hurt his girl. If I were to pick dead guy of the year, I'd pick you."_

_ Killian smiled in response, though the amusement didn't reach his eyes. Emma mirrored his answer with an emotionless smile of her own before she turned to leave the room. Killian made one final attempt at fighting against his cuffs before the pain in his ribs overcame him once more, and he found himself alone._

The mirror went dark then, and Ella lowered her hand, watching as it returned to normal and their reflections appeared once more.

"No more today, Henry," she said, dejected. Before he could say anything, the door to the apartment downstairs opened and closed.


	8. Chapter 8

**I am SO SO sorry I haven't updated in so long! Life happened and the holidays and work has been crazy, and I just haven't felt inspired. Hopefully, I can start making more time for this story because I have truly missed it and I do want to share it with all of you who have stuck with me. I hope you enjoy the next chapter!**

"Anyone here?" Killian yelled as he closed the door behind him and tossed his keys into a bowl on a table nearby. No voice answered, but he could hear rustling around before Ella appeared at the top of the stairs and began running down them, taking them two at a time. "Whoa, Princess!" he exclaimed, dashing across the room and holding out two cautious hands to catch her if she should fall. She maintained her balance on her little legs, though how she managed it at the speed she was going and the size of the stairs, he had no idea.

Suddenly, she crashed into him, wrapping herself tightly around his legs. He lifted her up into his arms as she tightened her grip around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. A moment later, she pulled back to look at him, carefully surveying his face. He immediately noticed the worry in her eyes, a mirror's gaze into a look he recognized all too well.

"What's wrong, love?" he asked, carrying her across the room to the couch and sitting down as she remained in his lap. She merely shook her head in response as she looked down and pressed a cautious hand against his chest. When she looked up at him again, he could see small tears sparkling at the edges of her blue eyes. "What's going on, sweetheart?"

"You're all right, Daddy?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"Of course I'm all right. There's nothing wrong with me. What's happened? Are _you_ all right?" He asked, his heart pounding in his chest as he ran his hands over his daughter's arms and legs, finally allowing them to come to rest on her sides when he found no visible sign of injury. She reached out and traced a scar on his face.

"I'm all right, Daddy," she murmured, though she wasn't looking at him so much as through him, lost in some deep place in her own thoughts that he didn't understand.

"Eleanor Hope, look at me," he said, placing his hands on either side of her face as her cerulean gaze focused on him once more. "I'm right here. I'm fine. Tell me what's bothering you, love."

"I don't want you to be alone, Daddy. I don't want you to hurt," she whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek. He caught it with his thumb, wiping it away while he swallowed back his own at the thought of his child's pain.

"I'm not alone, sweetheart. I have Mommy and I have you and Henry. Who told you that I'm alone?"

"Before," was all that she said. And it was all that she had to say for him to understand. He didn't know why it was affecting her, but he knew what she meant. Before this. The lifetimes before Emma, before Henry, before his family. Before the child of his own he'd always dreamed of having but had resigned himself to it being simply that: the dream of a man destined to spend his miserable existence alone. But here she was…so much more than he ever could have imagined. She was both a pirate and a princess, created from a love that he didn't deserve but that he had found anyway. And this child, this miracle he'd been given, this perfect mirror of himself and of Emma, loved him so much that she couldn't bear the idea of him ever being alone. She was four years old, and yet she knew more about love than he'd learned in hundreds of years. "I love you, Ella. You and Mommy and Henry are the best things that ever happened to me. And I wouldn't change a moment of my life because it brought me to you." She said nothing, instead wrapping her arms around his neck as he cradled her head in his hand.

She fell asleep in minutes, grip still surprisingly tight around his neck. He couldn't bear to take her to her bedroom and leave her, as upset as she was, so he carried her gently into his and Emma's bedroom. He lay down quickly and carefully, without jostling the precious cargo in his arms. His balance had always been steady, the ability to shift his weight in a moment, acquired in his many years at sea. But doing so with a sleeping child in his arms had been an entirely new experience that he quickly learned to master during Ella's first few days at home as an infant. Back then, she would fall asleep against his chest and he'd spend hours just watching her, mesmerized by this tiny person who filled his heart with more love than he believed was possible.

She hadn't slept this way in so long that he could barely believe how much she'd grown. No longer as fragile as she'd once been when he had feared breaking her with the slightest of movements. He looked down at her now, with her blonde curls crushed against his shoulder, familiar Charming family chin slightly quivering as she dreamt, and he saw Emma. He had vowed the day that they found out they were going to be parents, vowed to Emma at her request, that their child would never know the kind of sadness that they had known…the loneliness and the sorrow that accompanied being left alone. But he never anticipated that his former pain would become her own.

He continued to watch her, her tiny little brow furrowing as a result of whatever dream she found herself a part of, until he found his own eyelids slowly drifting shut.


	9. Chapter 9

**Two updates within just a few days?! What is this madness, you ask? I had the day off (shocking) and now that I've gotten back into the mindset of this story, I'm just really excited to share where it's going with all of my lovely readers! I hope you enjoy, and as always, all reviews are greatly appreciated!**

"Time for Taco Tuesday!" Emma exclaimed as she walked through the door, heaving the grocery bags onto the counter.

She began to put away the refrigerated items until they were needed when she turned and realized that the usual pitter-patter of tiny feet that accompanied her arrival had been replaced with a deafening silence.

"Hello?" she called out, and again no answer. Trying to stifle the panic that set her heart pounding against her chest, she ran upstairs and straight into Ella's room. Empty. Several steps down the hall into Henry's room found her son lying in bed with his headphones on and his eyes closed, though he didn't appear to be asleep. She strode across the room and poked him in the shoulder, his eyes opening wide as he shot up to a sitting position. When he realized it was her, he relaxed and paused whatever he happened to be listening to.

"You've gotta announce your presence or something. I almost had a heart attack."

"I yelled, kid. I think the noise-cancelling headphones might have something to do with it. Do you know where everyone else is?"

"Killian and Ella were asleep in your room, the last time I checked," he said, glancing down at the watch on his wrist. "Oh, I totally forgot about dinner! It's taco night, right?" She relaxed a bit, though she couldn't help but glance behind her and down the hallway, as if she could see around corners and through closed doors.

"It's Tuesday, isn't it?" she asked as he responded with a grin. "Why don't you go get things started while I check on them?"

"Sure," he said, hopping up and leading the way out into the hallway. As Henry descended the stairs, she approached the closed bedroom door and drew in a shaky breath, though she couldn't be sure why her heart was still beating a mile a minute or what she expected to find once she opened it. She slowly twisted the handle and gently pressed the door open.

Killian was on his back, both arms around Ella as she lay on his chest. Both were sound asleep, their chests rising and falling in perfect rhythm. Feeling the remaining tension leave her body, she leaned against the door frame and smiled. Physically, Ella could have been Emma's twin, apart from her father's indescribably blue eyes. But as she grew older, Emma could see more and more of Killian's personality revealing itself. She was mischievous but charming, finding a way out of trouble with that crooked smile Emma couldn't resist. She was fearless like him, taking on any challenge that she could find with no hesitation. And she loved with the same kind of overwhelming passion that her father did. Emma had never known a love like that, until she finally found her family. She had never known what it was to love someone else that much. Unconditionally and completely. She constantly felt as if her heart would burst with how much she loved them: her parents, her brother, Henry, Eleanor, and Killian. So the sight of the two of them together, the love of her life and the little girl who she'd never imagined having but who she now couldn't imagine life without, left her breathless as she stood simply watching them, unable to tear her eyes away until a hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality.

"The meat's cooking and I was hoping you could chop up the tomat—ohh," Henry's voice suddenly dropped in volume when he saw that Killian and Ella were still asleep. "Sorry, I thought you might wake them up for dinner," he added at a whisper.

"Let's leave them sleeping. We'll make enough for them and they can heat it up later if they wake up," she answered.

"Cool," Henry responded as Emma finally forced herself to turn and leave the room, carefully closing the door behind her.

"So, Mom, can I ask you something?" Henry asked as he added the taco seasoning to the browned meat in the pan and Emma stood at the counter sliding tomato slices into a bowl.

"Shoot," she responded.

"Did you ever see Killian as a villain?"

She turned to look at him, eyes widening at such an unexpected question. But it didn't take long for her to understand why he might ask. Henry's life was practically built on the concept of heroes and villains. Regina, the first mother he'd ever known, was labeled a villain. And for reasons that Emma would never fully understand, she was written as a hero from the very beginning. The Savior, destined to bring back the happy endings for everyone. So the idea of someone in the hero category finding a happy ending with someone who found themselves on the list of villains, whose purpose was to take those happy endings, must have been a difficult concept to understand, despite what Henry knew about Killian.

"No, I never did," she answered, returning her attention back to the cutting board and a large cucumber that needed dicing.

"Not even when you barely knew him?" he pressed further.

"Not even then," she replied as a collage of memories presented themselves before her eyes. Her view through Rumplestiltskin's prison bars of his back as he walked away from her, or the flash of lightning and anger in his eyes as he lay in the road bleeding. She could have chosen the role of villain for him and no one would have blamed her. But from the moment that they met, there was always something different about him. Something she couldn't put into words. Something hiding just behind his eyes. "Life is complicated and messy and painful sometimes," she began, trying to explain not only to Henry but to herself. To finally find those words she never could. "But we all have choices. And we don't always make the right ones, but that doesn't make us evil."

"I understand," Henry said, turning back to the stove. Several seconds of silence fell between them before he spoke again. "Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"I think you two have a really great story." He smiled, and she saw a glimpse of that ten-year-old boy standing outside her apartment door. It seemed like a lifetime ago, staring at her reflection in the mirror in an attempt to convince herself that the baby she had to give up was standing just on the other side of her bathroom door. Staring at a reflection she almost didn't recognize, as if a part of her knew the life she was meant for, beyond blowing out birthday candles alone and wishing for someone, anyone, to be there. It couldn't have been just a few years before. It felt like all of the time she'd missed with her son and her family had found its way back in the countless adventures they'd been thrown into. And she wouldn't have traded a single moment of it. So she simply smiled back, hoping that he understood all that she didn't have the ability to say.

They ate their tacos at the kitchen table, as was their weekly tradition, taking the time together to discuss how school and work were going. Henry was disappointed in the lack of any exciting sheriff stories other than the bar brawl at The Rabbit Hole in the middle of the day caused by Grumpy punching the new bartender in the face for asking for his ID and rejecting his pickaxe as a proper form of identification. Emma, meanwhile, was curious about Henry's plans following graduation because she'd heard Killian suggest piracy a few days before and knowing her son, thought he might actually be considering it. Though she had to admit she was relieved and proud when he said he'd thought about teaching The History of the Enchanted Forest, a class which would, coincidentally (though nothing was ever a coincidence in Storybrooke), be offered at the school for the first time next year. And somehow she suspected that she had Mary Margaret, the newly elected principal, to thank for that.

After dinner, Henry returned to his bedroom, presumably back to the exact position she'd found him in earlier. Feeling suddenly exhausted, Emma returned to her bedroom as well, where Killian and Ella hadn't moved an inch. She quickly and quietly changed into a loose-fitting t-shirt, flipped off the light, and climbed into her spot in bed. In the darkness, she felt a sudden shift, though no words were spoken, and when her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, she found Ella now occupying the space between her and Killian, one arm reaching out for each of them. Then, Emma felt a tiny hand take hold of hers, and after placing a kiss to her daughter's forehead, drifted off to sleep.


End file.
